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  • TWIP – Iron Maiden Stream, MGC Preview, New Podcasts, Deadpool Speculation, Trudeau Update, More

TWIP – Iron Maiden Stream, MGC Preview, New Podcasts, Deadpool Speculation, Trudeau Update, More

Iron Maiden Videos and More

Stern officially announced Iron Maiden on March 27th, and it is already shipping out – how cool is that??  Iron Maiden is in full production at the Stern Factory, as you can see in this video.  Iron Maiden’s have been shipping across the pond, and will start shipping domestically this coming week.

We are getting some gameplay videos trickling out here and there – here are a few examples:

The manual for the Pro Version of Iron Maiden is also available now, you can view it here.

Ready to see more videos of this machine?  Me too!  Did you miss the initial gameplay video from Dead Flip?  Me too!

When will we see another gameplay stream?

It sounds like another stream will be happening VERY soon.  Like rumored to be Tuesday (tomorrow).  And rumored to be archived this time.  It’ll be on a Pro version.  Don’t miss this stream from Dead Flip!  You can tune in here when it goes live!

Iron Maiden Premium and LE

So when will we see the Premium and LE?  From what we’re hearing, we should see the Limited Edition later this month and the Premium should be not long after the LE.  We did get a bit of a peak at what appears to be the ramp on the Premium and/or LE with a Pharaoh Head cutout:

Compare that ramp to the one on the Pro version, which you can see below:

Midwest Gaming Classic Preview

The Midwest Gaming Classic takes place this coming weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!  According to their website, “The Midwest Gaming Classic is a trade show featuring 100,000+ square feet of retro and modern home video game consoles, pinball machines, arcade video games, computers, table top gaming, crane games, collectible card games and air hockey, and that’s just the start!”

So what can we expect pinball-wise at MGC?  Of course there will be a TON of pinball machines from many manufacturers.  Here are a few other things to expect:

  • Stern Pinball: Expect 30(!!) Iron Maidens set up to play!

  • American Pinball: Houdini machines are expected to be set up with a shaker motor and magic glass!

  • Chicago Gaming Company: It doesn’t sound like they will be revealing their new title (expected to be Monster Bash)

  • Spooky Pinball: Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle will be there with new code!

MGC is one of the best pinball shows of the year, so don’t miss it.  For more information, including tickets, schedule, special guests, etc., visit their website!

BATMAN 66 PINBALL CRANE UPGRADE KIT!

Batman 66 is a beautiful pinball machine that just begs for mods.  Upgrade the crane in the middle of the playfield with a lattice boom and detailed utility light dome cover!  It makes the crane the true centerpiece of the machine!

Do you want to sell your mod on Mezel Mods?  Click Here to email them for more info!

Pinball Expo Updates

Previously on This Week in Pinball, we shared that Rob Berk and Mike Pacak, who had been running Pinball Expo for several decades, were splitting up and planning to run two different pinball shows in Chicago this fall.  At the time, Berk planned to run a new show called Pinball Palooza in September at a new venue, and Pacak planned to run a show on the same dates and at the same location (the Westin) as Expo 2018 was scheduled, but with a different name as it was unclear who owned the name “Expo”.

Last week, Pinball News shared an article stating that Berk had secured the rights to the name “Expo” and that the contract with the Westin re-drawn into only Berk’s name, without Pacak.

Rob Berk also sent out the following:

Dear Friends of Pinball Expo,

At the conclusion of last year’s 33rd annual Pinball Expo, and with great consideration, I made the decision to dissolve my partnership with Mike Pacak. I felt the energy and vision that I had for the show was waning and that a change was needed for the survival of Pinball Expo. It took several months to work through the details, but I am happy to announce that in March I acquired full ownership, which means we are on schedule for the 34th annual Pinball Expo, to be held at the Westin in Wheeling, IL, from October 17-21, 2018.

In the process of planning for a spectacular event, I have secured Dave Fix as the Vendor Hall Chairman, and Rob Craig who will manage our social media plus help us secure games for the free play area. Both have a passion for pinball and will be great additions to our staff!

My mission now is to fill the Vendor Hall and Game Hall to their capacity. I want the energy and excitement for pinball to be at an all-time high! I am committed to giving each attendee, vendor, and speaker my time and effort so that Pinball Expo will be fun for everyone. I welcome your comments.

I look forward to seeing friends, old and new, this October!

Rob Berk, Chairman and Founder

It is a little messy because some in the pinball community are on Mike’s side and some are on Rob’s side, and it is hard to tell right now what that will mean for the show.   We’ll keep you updated on this situation.

New Podcasts!

We have had TWO new pinball podcasts started recently – first, from Pinsider MrsPin, comes the MrsPin Pinball Podcast!  On Pinside, MrsPin shares some info about this new podcast: “Searching for a pinball podcast from the eyes of a female, non-professional pinball spouse? Yeah… me too. And it doesn’t exist. Or it didn’t UNTIL NOW. Lots of great podcasts from pinball men (#timtam), but where’s all the female love? Dorks unite! Enjoy this in three parts, and cut me some slack, it’s my first podcast ever!”

The second new podcast is the Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast!  Jonathan Joosten of Pinball Magazine shared this info regarding the new podcast: “Martin Ayub (Pinball News) and myself (editor of Pinball Magazine) joined forces in our first combined podcast: http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/podcast-rss.php?id=13849. The idea was to turn Pinball Magazine’s monthly news recap into a podcast where we both discuss the latest developments in the pinball industry. This first episode discusses all the news coming out of Texas Pinball Festival and the Iron Maiden reveal. What we figured would be a 10-minute first show ended up running over 2 hours, but it was fun to do. Hope it will be fun to listen to as well :)”

Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Join Forces

As mentioned above, in big news this week, Pinball News and Pinball Magazine have joined forces and have started a podcast.  These two have significant voices in pinball media and their podcast should contain some great information.  In this first podcast, they shared some interesting info:

On Talking to John Borg

“In the middle of Saturday night, you run into John Borg in the elevator and have a great chat with him, and he spilled some very interesting notes on Guardians of the Galaxy.  When John Borg was designing what became Guardians of the Galaxy, there was no theme announced to him, what he would be working on.  He knew Stern had the Iron Maiden theme, and he was expecting it to become Iron Maiden.  So what he did was, he designed the playfield and he left a big gap in the middle where he could place an Eddie toy.  But then instead of getting Iron Maiden he got the Guardians of the Galaxy license, and they decided to use that to put Groot instead in the center.”

On the Leaked Deadpool Image

“There is a photo of the playfield with a piece of paper with artwork…the game is themed around the comic book, not the movie.  Not sure if that is giving them any extra assets to work with…I got the picture here.  This is all with red plastics and a piece of paper in the center of the playfield.  There is what appears to be a three bank drop target with a Deadpool character on top of it.  A few mechanisms in the back.  It looks like there is no ramp on the right side but two on the left, and you might have an upper playfield with a third flipper to access that upper left ramp.”

Note: Regarding the leaked image, it is not known how far along the design process actually was when the photo was taken.  From what we’ve seen here at This Week in Pinball, we don’t believe Deadpool will have an upper playfield or a third flipper, but obviously things are always subject to change.

Listen to the full podcast here!  We look forward to hearing more podcasts from Pinball News and Pinball Magazine!

The Big Lebowski Updates and Tutorial

Dutch Pinball sent out an update on the status of The Big Lebowski pinball machine last week:

Welcome to another update on the status of the production of The Big Lebowski Pinball.

The coming weeks are quite exciting as we are nearing the final phase for production to start. We expect the last paperwork to be ready next week and then we have green light to start production. This means parts can be ordered, the production line is being prepared as well as all the work instructions, drawings and many other details that are needed for assembly. In the previous update we said we expect production to begin April/May, this has changed a little bit, and we now expect it to be May/June.

In the last update we also told you that Engineering Sample no. 4 was almost on its way to our HQ. A week later the game arrived without any damage. And even more important: the game worked perfectly!

We also came across this very cool video tutorial of the Big Lebowski Pinball from Bowen Kerins which shows you it will be worth the wait. This game will be yours:

We will come with a new update in a few weeks, or when there’s other significant news.

P.S. There is a rumor that Barry was hit by a car. Fortunately this is not true. Barry is fine

Barry and Jaap

We also saw a new Bowen tutorial last week on – you guessed it, The Big Lebowski!  Check it out here!

Path of Play

Path of Play assists families with special needs, through the world of play.  Last Monday (April 2nd) was World Autism Awareness Day, and the Path of Play organization was featured on CBC News.  Check out the video here!

John Trudeau Update

Pinball designer John Trudeau, who was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and has pleaded not guilty, had a court date last week on April 5th.  Not much to report on – the notes say DISCOVERY OR DISCLOSURE which means a proceeding whereby one party to an action may be informed as to facts known by other parties or witnesses, and STRIKE COURT DATE meaning the case for that day was stricken and no action was taken.  (Any lawyers reading this can probably explain things better.)  Trudeau’s new court date is set for June 7th.

Mezel Mods Gift Card Winner!

Congrats to Bill Briese who won the March Mezel Mods gift card!!

Past Winners

January/February winner (Free Ultimate LED kit): Alex Huffman

December’s winner (Marco Specialties Swag): Will Oetting

November winner (Comet Pinball gift card): Craig Kroll

October winner (Titan Pinball gift card): J.M. Ratkos

September winner (Mezel Mods gift card): Steve Flake

August winner (Pinball Life gift card): Todd Baumeister

July winner (Pinball Life gift card): Dylan Bristowe

Victory Laps – End of Post Bonus

 

MATCH! – Next Game…What is Coming Up on This Week in Pinball

  • We should have a Deep Dive into Iron Maiden on either Thursday or Friday this week!

  • TWIP stream on Twitch is coming soon!

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Disclaimer: Any articles, interviews, or mentions of pinball manufacturers or pinball products is NOT an endorsement.

Have a scoop or anonymous rumor?  Email us at [email protected]

Stern Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Aerosmith  |  AC/DC Vault Edition  |  Star Wars  |  Guardians of the Galaxy  |  AC/DC Luci Vault Edition  |  Iron Maiden

Announced/Confirmed

Elvira 3

Rumors of Future Titles

Deadpool?  |  The Munsters?  |  The Beatles?  |  Jurassic World?  |  Pulp Fiction?  |  New Ka-Pow Title?  |  Steve Ritchie Black Knight 3000?

Jersey Jack Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Wizard of Oz  |  The Hobbit  |  Dialed In  |  Pirates of the Caribbean

Rumors of Future Titles

Toy Story?  |  Willy Wonka?  |  The Muppets?

Chicago Gaming/Planetary Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Medieval Madness Remake  |  Attack From Mars Remake

Rumors of Future Titles

Monster Bash Remake?  |  Cactus Canyon Remake?  |  Big Bang Bar Remake?  |  Theatre of Magic?

Spooky Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Rob Zombie’s Spookshow International  |  Dominos (*contract game)  |  Jetsons (*contract game)  |  Total Nuclear Annihilation (*contract/house game)  |  Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle

American Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Houdini

Rumors of Future Titles

Oktoberfest?

P3 (Multimorphic)

Lexy Lightspeed  |  Cannon Lagoon  |  Cosmic Cart Racing

Heighway Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Full Throttle  |  Alien (shipping)

Rumors of Future Titles

Queen?

Dutch Pinball

Most Recent Titles

Bride of Pinbot 2.0  |  Bride of Pinbot 3.0 (on hold)  |  The Big Lebowski (production issues)

 Circus Maximus

The Pinball Circus Remake  |  Kingpin

Homepin

Thunderbirds (coming soon)

 deeproot Pinball

Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland?  |  Alice in Wonderland?  |  Magic Girl?  |  Original Houdini design?

Announced/Confirmed

Fire and Brimstone

Silver Castle Pinball

Timeshock (coming soon)

Phénix Pinball

Olympic Goblin

**TWIP dreams of the day Harry Potter Pinball will be added to these rumors. Ms. Rowling, I’d be willing to be a test subject for Skiving Snackboxes from Fred and George if you approve this!

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